Thoughts on Deworming Nursing Calves?

[GotMyHandsFull]

I have about 30 calves born in December and January that have not slicked up (still looks like they have their winter coats), so I'm assuming they're wormy. However, a couple of old timers that hang around the sale barn told me I shouldn't deworm a nursing calf. These calves are 5 months or so old. What harm would worming while they're nursing cause?

 

[Hook]

Id you are selling calves, worming them is the 2nd biggest bang for the buck. First is implanting them

 

[GotMyHandsFull]

I didn't phrase my question as well as I should. Is it OK to deworm while a calf is still nursing or best to wait until weaning?

 

[Hook]

Worm them.

 

[Aaron]

I deworm all my spring calves before turnout. Some are only a few weeks old.

 

[kenny thomas]

What I tell people is when we are raising puppies we worm them at a couple weeks old and somehow they already have worms. Why wouldnt a 5 month old calf have worms also. Yes worm them.

 

[denvermartinfarms]

Worm them, and I've about decided to stop everything I do to deworm and go to useing long range and nothing else.

 

[kenny thomas]

When I use up the womer I have already bought I guess I will try the longrange. But at $490 a bottle it had better be good.

 

[denvermartinfarms]

When I use up the womer I have already bought I guess I will try the longrange. But at $490 a bottle it had better be good.

Right now I use lots of drench and pour on together and some injectable. I've seen alot of cattle that longrange has been used on and I'm impressed, I think it may be enough better to be worth doing. 1$ per 100lbs is high for sure though.

 

[kenny thomas]

But now if I can add 5 lb to a 5wt calf by the time it is a 7wt it will pay for it. That seems easy enough to do.

 

[littletom]

Sounds like the local farmers at the country store. They drive down road then go set at the store at talk about every thing I am doing wrong till 9 then go back for 2 hours at lunch. Me and some of my big farming buddies. Have came to conclusion if they think we have lost our mind we are doing the right thing. In 2012 I brought in some poor cows from the drought in the south west. One guy gave me a long speech on how they would not make through the winter and how I wasted my money. Still have all but one some of my best cows I have that cost 670 dollars each. Only mistake was not buying a whole more of them. The man did not make it through the winter. Take what you hear from these experts lightly I know the type. My wife is also a DVM deworm all your cattle young and old.

 

[Big Cheese]

We put Ivermectin in a 2 gallon sprayer to spray cows when we see some cows that look like they need worming or have a lot of flies and I usually hit most of the calves with a little bit then. They really come on after that usually. Not a problem at all with worming them....but I probably would wait until they are over a month old.

 

[Dave]

We put Ivermectin in a 2 gallon sprayer to spray cows when we see some cows that look like they need worming or have a lot of flies and I usually hit most of the calves with a little bit then. They really come on after that usually. Not a problem at all with worming them....but I probably would wait until they are over a month old.

You use a sprayer to spray Ivermectin on cows? Do you have any idea how much you apply to each cow? Is it enough? Too much? You measure it, how?

 

[Toad]

We put Ivermectin in a 2 gallon sprayer to spray cows when we see some cows that look like they need worming or have a lot of flies and I usually hit most of the calves with a little bit then. They really come on after that usually. Not a problem at all with worming them....but I probably would wait until they are over a month old.

You use a sprayer to spray Ivermectin on cows? Do you have any idea how much you apply to each cow? Is it enough? Too much? You measure it, how?

I'm wondering the same thing. Why not use the applicator that comes with the pour on?

 

[Big Cheese]

This is when we are out in the field with them is when we use the prayer. We use the applicator that comes with it when we are working the cows in the corral. When they are out in the field grazing we drive up beside them in our gator and spray them. Usually don't get much on them but enough to get rid of the flies that's the main reason we use it in the sprayer. If one is wormy we spray it 2 or 3 days in a row unless we get a good amount on it the first time and it fixes them right up. Never had any problems with it doing it that way.

 

[M-5]

its not going to hurt anything but your pocket book. It simple and effective . Ive done it and I figure the only way to hurt them with pouron is to hold their head in a bucket and drown them in it. Now I have seen alcohol based catch on fire if you hit them with a hot shot right after you pour it. It will remove the flies and the hair

 

[Dave]

its not going to hurt anything but your pocket book. It simple and effective . Ive done it and I figure the only way to hurt them with pouron is to hold their head in a bucket and drown them in it. Now I have seen alcohol based catch on fire if you hit them with a hot shot right after you pour it. It will remove the flies and the hair

My thoughts too. You are not hurting the cows by getting too much. Just your pocket book. Well, too little may help the parasites develop resistance. If you are branding and using pour on, be sure to brand first. Pour on first followed by the branding iron can cause a fire.

 

[Big Cheese]

I'm not going to say it does or doesn't hurt our pocketbook because the stuff is definitely expensive but it sure does help the cows stay in really good shape and make them look good and pretty. We've used two big bottles so far this year but we worked 40 heifers as well...that was more then half a bottle there. I think it's a good expense that's helps your herd.

 

[talltimber]

I doubt you can get enough on them to burn them, by spraying in the pasture like that, unless they are really tame and you are an idiot like I am.
You can get enough on them to make them really, really uncomfortable, for a while. I got a case of the dumbass one time and put too much (poured on) on my young bull. Walked out of there, skin crawling like it does to shake a fly?, and then took off. Run this away and that away. I was really having a hard time believing it was the wormer, I thought a really rough horsefly had him going. He run off to the creek and stood in it, like usual in hot weather. That was all there was to it. I got too much on him. No burns though, I got him up that evening and looked him over. Set him on fire for a bit, or at least tingled, a bunch.

 

[branguscowgirl]

This is when we are out in the field with them is when we use the prayer. We use the applicator that comes with it when we are working the cows in the corral. When they are out in the field grazing we drive up beside them in our gator and spray them. Usually don't get much on them but enough to get rid of the flies that's the main reason we use it in the sprayer. If one is wormy we spray it 2 or 3 days in a row unless we get a good amount on it the first time and it fixes them right up. Never had any problems with it doing it that way.

Your just "toying" with the worms that way. Good way to build resistance by not properly dosing them.